A children’s novel about dogs left alone on a spaceship and working to complete their mission presented itself as the only thing I wanted to write about. I wanted to spend the months it takes to write a book in a happier head space. I’d also just come off a really difficult year of caring for my elderly parents and experiencing their deaths.

I’d just finished my adult urban fantasy trilogy, “California Bones,” and I was thinking about what to write next.

It gives me a deep sense of comfort to see good dogs.

Q: What was your inspiration for the book?Ī: I’m one of those people who spend possibly too much time looking at dog pictures on the Internet. In San Diego, he lives with his wife, who is an astronomy and physics professor, and their two dogs. His other books include 2014’s “California Bones,” the first part of a fantasy trilogy for adults. Raised in Los Angeles and a graduate of UCLA, Van Eekhout published his first novel, “Norse Code,” in 2009. The book is written for the 8-to-12 age group. The adventures begin when the dogs accompany their human counterparts on a space voyage to install a new outpost far, far across the galaxy. So much so that his new book, “Voyage of the Dogs,” is centered on four of them. San Diego writer Greg van Eekhout likes dogs. In this charming stand-alone adventure, Greg van Eekhout breathes life and wisdom into an unforgettable character and crafts a story sure to earn its place among beloved classics like Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan. Surrounded by scientists who want to study him and remove his brain, Cog recruits four robot accomplices for a mission to find her.Ĭog, ADA, Proto, Trashbot, and Car’s journey will likely involve much cognitive development in the form of mistakes, but Cog is willing to risk everything to find his way back to Gina. But his name is short for “cognitive development”, and he was built to learn.īut after an accident leaves him damaged, Cog wakes up in an unknown lab - and Gina, the scientist who created and cared for him, is nowhere to be found. Wall-E meets The Wild Robot in this middle-grade instant classic about five robots on a mission to rescue their inventor from the corporation that controls them all.Ĭog looks like a normal 12-year-old boy. Their programming will never be the same.

Voyage of the Dogs by Greg Van Eekhout